U.S. patent number 9,946,002 [Application Number 14/196,553] was granted by the patent office on 2018-04-17 for electrical device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to CORIANT OY. The grantee listed for this patent is TELLABS OY. Invention is credited to Antti Holma, Petri Kohonen, Jari-Pekka Laihonen.
United States Patent |
9,946,002 |
Holma , et al. |
April 17, 2018 |
Electrical device
Abstract
An electrical device includes a circuit board (101), a light
source (104), and a light guide (105). The light guide receives
light from the light source and conducts the received light to an
end of the light guide so that the light crosses, in a direction
parallel with the circuit board, an edge of the circuit board. The
end of the light guide constitutes a display surface for showing
the light to a user. On a fringe area extending from the edge of
the circuit board a distance (D) towards the opposite edge of the
circuit board, the light guide is between geometrical planes
parallel and coinciding with surfaces of the circuit board. Hence,
the light guide does not require room in directions perpendicular
to the circuit board. Therefore, for example, more connectors, key
buttons, and/or other instruments can be placed on a control panel
of the electrical device.
Inventors: |
Holma; Antti (Espoo,
FI), Laihonen; Jari-Pekka (Espoo, FI),
Kohonen; Petri (Vantaa, FI) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TELLABS OY |
Espoo |
N/A |
FI |
|
|
Assignee: |
CORIANT OY (Espoo,
FI)
|
Family
ID: |
50114302 |
Appl.
No.: |
14/196,553 |
Filed: |
March 4, 2014 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20140247618 A1 |
Sep 4, 2014 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Mar 1, 2013 [FI] |
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20135200 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B
6/0005 (20130101); H05K 1/0274 (20130101); F21V
2200/15 (20150115); F21V 2200/10 (20150115); H05K
2201/10106 (20130101); F21V 2200/00 (20150115); H05K
2201/09145 (20130101); H05K 2201/09063 (20130101); F21V
2200/17 (20150115); F21V 2200/13 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
G02B
6/00 (20060101); F21V 8/00 (20060101); H05K
1/02 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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1645172 |
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Jul 2005 |
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CN |
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102905489 |
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Jan 2013 |
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CN |
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3703423 |
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Aug 1988 |
|
DE |
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Other References
Finnish Search Report, dated Dec. 18, 2013, from corresponding FI
application. cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Tran; Binh
Assistant Examiner: Burtner; Douglas
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Young & Thompson
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electrical device comprising: a circuit board having a first
surface and a second surface; at least one light source on the
first surface of the circuit board; and at least one light guide
configured to receive, at a first end of the light guide, light
from the light source and to conduct the received light to a second
end of the light guide so that the light crosses, in a direction
parallel with the circuit board, an edge of the circuit board, the
second end of the light guide constituting a display surface for
showing the light to a user of the electrical device, wherein, on a
fringe area extending from the edge of the circuit board a distance
towards an opposite edge of the circuit board, the light guide is
disposed between geometrical planes, a first one of the geometrical
planes being parallel and coinciding with the first surface of the
circuit board and a second one of the geometrical planes being
parallel and coinciding with the second surface of the circuit
board so that, on the fringe area, the light guide is disposed
between the geometrical planes without extending through either of
the geometrical planes.
2. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the light
guide comprises a strip of light conducting material, the strip
constituting a part of a layer of the circuit board, the second end
of the light guide being on the edge of the circuit board.
3. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the light
guide comprises an elongated part at least partially located in a
cut of the circuit board so that, on the fringe area, the elongated
part is between the geometrical planes parallel and coinciding with
the first and second surfaces of the circuit board, the elongated
part including the second end constituting the display surface.
4. The electrical device according to claim 3, wherein the second
end of the elongated part is flush with the edge of the circuit
board.
5. The electrical device according to claim 3, wherein the
elongated part crosses the edge of the circuit board and comprises
an extension portion that is outside the circuit board.
6. The electrical device according to claim 5, wherein at least the
extension portion of the elongated part is made of flexible
material.
7. The electrical device according to claim 5, wherein the
electrical device comprises a casing structure having an aperture
for the second end of the elongated part.
8. The electrical device according to claim 6, wherein the
electrical device comprises a casing structure having an aperture
for the second end of the elongated part.
9. The electrical device according to claim 7, wherein the
extension portion of the elongated part has a curved shape to
enable the second end of the elongated part to be in the aperture
of the casing structure.
10. The electrical device according to claim 8, wherein the
extension portion of the elongated part has a curved shape to
enable the second end of the elongated part to be in the aperture
of the casing structure.
11. The electrical device according to claim 5, wherein the
electrical device comprises a sealing member surrounding the
extension portion of the elongated part and being configured to
provide a sealed lead-through for the extension portion of the
elongated part.
12. The electrical device according to claim 6, wherein the
electrical device comprises a sealing member surrounding the
extension portion of the elongated part and being configured to
provide a sealed lead-through for the extension portion of the
elongated part.
13. The electrical device according to claim 7, wherein the
electrical device comprises a sealing member surrounding the
extension portion of the elongated part and being configured to
provide a sealed lead-through for the extension portion of the
elongated part.
14. The electrical device according to claim 8, wherein the
electrical device comprises a sealing member surrounding the
extension portion of the elongated part and being configured to
provide a sealed lead-through for the extension portion of the
elongated part.
15. The electrical device according to claim 9, wherein the
electrical device comprises a sealing member surrounding the
extension portion of the elongated part and being configured to
provide a sealed lead-through for the extension portion of the
elongated part.
16. The electrical device according to claim 10, wherein the
electrical device comprises a sealing member surrounding the
extension portion of the elongated part and being configured to
provide a sealed lead-through for the extension portion of the
elongated part.
17. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the light
guide comprises two or more branches configured to receive lights
from various light sources and interconnected into a single light
conducting path to generate a superposition of the lights received
from the various light sources.
18. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the light
guide comprises two or more branches branching from a single light
conducting path configured to receive the light from the light
source, each of the branches being configured to conduct a part of
the light to the user.
19. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the
electrical device comprises a processing system configured to
support at least one of the following data transfer protocols:
Internet Protocol (IP), Ethernet protocol, MultiProtocol Label
Switching (MPLS) protocol, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an electrical device comprising at least
one light source and at least one light guide for receiving light
from the light source and for displaying the light to a user of the
electrical device.
BACKGROUND
In many cases an electrical device comprises a circuit board
furnished with electrical components. The electrical device can be,
for example but not necessarily, an Internet Protocol "IP" router,
an Ethernet switch, a MultiProtocol Label Switching "MPLS" switch,
and/or an Asynchronous Transfer Mode "ATM" switch. The circuit
board comprises a body made of one or more layers of electrically
insulating material and electrical conductors on one or both of the
surfaces of the circuit board and/or between the layers of the
electrically insulating material. Each of the electrical components
can be, for example, an integrated circuit such as a processor or a
memory, or a discrete component such as a resistor, a capacitor, an
inductor, a transistor, or a diode. Furthermore, the electrical
device may comprise also other elements than electrical components.
Examples of the other elements are elements related to cooling
arrangements and optical elements.
The optical elements may comprise, for example, one or more
indicator light sources that are controlled according to the
operational status of the electrical device. The operational status
indicated by the one or more indicator light sources can be for
example: "running", "stand-by", "energized", "activated", "armed",
"de-activated", "fault", etc. In many cases, the indicator light
sources are not in the place where the indicator lights are
displayed to a user of the electrical device. For example, the
indicator light sources are not necessarily in a control panel of
the electrical device but the electrical device comprises one more
light guides made of light conducting material and configured to
conduct the indicator lights to the control panel where the
indicator lights are displayed to the user. In conjunction with
some applications, the light guides are called light pipes.
There has been, and there still is, a trend to decrease the
physical dimensions of electrical devices as well as to increase
the number of connectors and/or other equipment or instruments
located on control panels of the electrical devices. Therefore, the
room available for light guides of the kind mentioned above has
decreased and is still decreasing. Hence, there is a need for
technical solutions that are suitable for reducing the room needed
for light guides.
SUMMARY
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a
basic understanding of some aspects of various invention
embodiments. The summary is not an extensive overview of the
invention. It is neither intended to identify key or critical
elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope of the
invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of
the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed
description of exemplifying embodiments of the invention.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a new
electrical device that can be, for example but not necessarily, a
part of telecommunication equipment. An electrical device according
to the invention comprises: a circuit board having a first surface
and a second surface, at least one light source on the first
surface of the circuit board, and at least one light guide for
receiving, at a first end of the light guide, light from the light
source and for conducting the received light to a second end of the
light guide so that the light crosses, in a direction parallel with
the circuit board, an edge of the circuit board, the second end of
the light guide constituting a display surface for showing the
light to a user of the electrical device, wherein, on a fringe area
extending from the edge of the circuit board a distance towards an
opposite edge of the circuit board, the light guide is between
geometrical planes parallel and coinciding with the first and
second surfaces of the circuit board. On the above-mentioned fringe
area, the light guide is between the geometrical planes without
extending though either of the geometrical planes. Hence, on the
above-defined fringe area, the light guide does not require room in
directions perpendicular to the circuit board. Therefore, for
example, more connectors, key buttons, and/or other instruments can
be placed on a control panel of the electrical device. The light
source can be, for example, an indicator light source that is
controlled according to the operational status of the electrical
device. The operational status can be for example: "running",
"stand-by", "energized", "activated", "armed", "de-activated",
"fault", etc.
A number of non-limiting and exemplifying embodiments of the
invention are described in accompanied dependent claims.
Various non-limiting and exemplifying embodiments of the invention
both as to constructions and to methods of operation, together with
additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood
from the following description of specific exemplifying embodiments
when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The verbs "to comprise" and "to include" are used in this document
as open limitations that neither exclude nor require the existence
of unrecited features. The features recited in depending claims are
mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.
Furthermore, it is to be understood that the use of "a" or "an"
throughout this document does not exclude a plurality.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
Exemplifying embodiments of the invention and their advantages are
explained in greater detail below in the sense of examples and with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate a detail of an electrical device
according to an exemplifying embodiment of the invention,
FIGS. 2a and 2b illustrate a detail of an electrical device
according to another exemplifying embodiment of the invention,
FIG. 3 illustrates an electrical device according to an
exemplifying embodiment of the invention, and
FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate light guides suitable for electrical
devices according to exemplifying embodiments of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLIFYING EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1a shows a perspective view of a detail of an electrical
device according to an exemplifying embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1b shows a view of a section taken along the line A-A shown in
FIG. 1a. The electrical device comprises a circuit board 101 having
a first surface 102 and a second surface 103 that are parallel with
the xy-plane of a coordinate system 190. The circuit board 101 is
furnished with electrical components one of which is denoted with a
reference number 120. The electrical device can be, for example but
not necessarily, a part of telecommunication equipment and it may
comprise, for example, a processing system for supporting at least
one of the following data transfer protocols: Internet Protocol
"IP", Ethernet protocol, MultiProtocol Label Switching "MPLS"
protocol, and/or Asynchronous Transfer Mode "ATM".
The electrical device comprises light sources one of which is
illustrated in FIG. 1b and denoted with a reference number 104. The
light sources can be, for example, indicator light sources that are
controlled by one or more of the electrical components of the
electrical device in accordance with the operational status of the
electrical device. The light sources are contained by light source
elements 121 and 122. The light sources can be, for example, light
emitting diodes "LED". One of light beams emitted by the light
source 104 is depicted with a dashed line arrow shown in FIG. 1b.
The electrical device comprises light guides 105 and 106. Each
light guide is configured to receive, at a first end of the light
guide, light from the respective light source and to conduct the
received light to a second end of the light guide so that the light
crosses, in a direction parallel with the circuit board, an edge
108 of the circuit board. The second end of each light guide
constitutes a display surface for showing the light to a user of
the electrical device. The second end of the light guide 105
constitutes the display surface 107 as illustrated in FIG. 1b. On a
fringe area 109 extending from the edge 108 of the circuit board a
distance D towards an opposite edge of the circuit board, each of
the light guides 105 and 106 is between geometrical planes 180 and
181 parallel and coinciding with the first and second surfaces 102
and 103 of the circuit board 101. Hence, on the above-defined
fringe area 109, the light guides 105 and 106 do not require room
in directions perpendicular to the circuit board 101. Therefore,
for example, more connectors, key buttons, and/or other instruments
can be placed on a control panel 123 of the electrical device. The
above-mentioned geometrical planes 180 and 181 are parallel with
the xy-plane of the coordinate system 190. In FIG. 1b, the
geometrical planes 180 and 181 are depicted with dashed lines. It
is worth noting that the geometrical planes 180 and 181 are
geometric concepts and are not necessarily any physical objects. A
geometric concept can be, for example, a geometric point, a
straight or curved geometric line, a geometric plane, a non-planar
geometric surface, a geometric space, or any other geometric entity
that is zero, one-, two-, or three-dimensional.
In the exemplifying case illustrated in FIGS. 1a and 1b, each of
the light guides 105 and 106 comprises a strip of light conducting
material, where the strip constitutes a part of a layer of the
circuit board. The second ends of the light guides are on the edge
108 of the circuit board as illustrated in FIGS. 1a and 1b.
FIG. 2a shows a perspective view of a detail of an electrical
device according to an exemplifying embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2b shows a view of a section taken along the line A-A shown in
FIG. 2a. The electrical device comprises a circuit board 201 having
a first surface 202 and a second surface 203 that are parallel with
the xy-plane of a coordinate system 290. The circuit board 201 is
furnished with electrical components one of which is denoted with a
reference number 220. The electrical device comprises light sources
one of which is illustrated in FIG. 2b and denoted with a reference
number 204. One of light beams emitted by the light source 204 is
depicted with a dashed line arrow shown in FIG. 2b. The light
sources are contained by a light source element 221. The electrical
device comprises light guides 205 and 206. Each light guide is
configured to receive, at a first end of the light guide, light
from the respective light source and to conduct the received light
to a second end of the light guide so that the light crosses, in a
direction parallel with the circuit board, an edge 208 of the
circuit board. The second end of each light guide constitutes a
display surface for showing the light to a user of the electrical
device. The second end of the light guide 205 constitutes the
display surface 207 as illustrated in FIG. 2b. On a fringe area 209
extending from the edge 208 of the circuit board a distance D
towards an opposite edge of the circuit board, each of the light
guides 205 and 206 is between geometrical planes 280 and 281
parallel and coinciding with the first and second surfaces 202 and
203 of the circuit board 201. Hence, on the above-defined fringe
area 209, the light guides 205 and 206 do not require room in
directions perpendicular to the circuit board 201. The
above-mentioned geometrical planes 280 and 281 are parallel with
the xy-plane of the coordinate system 290. In FIG. 2b, the
geometrical planes 280 and 281 are depicted with dashed lines. In
the exemplifying case illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, each of the
light guides comprises an elongated part at least partially located
in a cut 211 of the circuit board so that, on the fringe area 209,
the elongated part is between the geometrical planes parallel and
coinciding with the first and second surfaces 202 and 203 of the
circuit board. FIG. 2b illustrates the elongated part 210 of the
light guide 205. The free end of the elongated part 210 constitutes
the display surface 207. In the exemplifying case illustrated in
FIGS. 2a and 2b, the free ends of the elongated parts are flush
with the edge 208 of the circuit board. It is, however, also
possible that the elongated parts are so short that they are not
flush with the edge 208. On the other hand, in some applications,
the elongated parts can be so long that they cross the edge
208.
FIG. 3 illustrates an electrical device according to an
exemplifying embodiment of the invention. The electrical device
comprises a circuit board 301 having a first surface and a second
surface that are parallel with the xy-plane of a coordinate system
390. The circuit board 301 is furnished with electrical components
one of which is denoted with a reference number 320. The electrical
device comprises light sources that are contained by a light source
element 321. The electrical device comprises light guides 305 and
306. Each light guide is configured to receive, at a first end of
the light guide, light from the respective light source and to
conduct the received light to a second end of the light guide so
that the light crosses, in a direction parallel with the circuit
board, an edge 308 of the circuit board. The second end of each
light guide constitutes a display surface for showing the light to
a user of the electrical device. On a fringe area 309 extending
from the edge 308 of the circuit board a distance D towards an
opposite edge of the circuit board, each of the light guides 305
and 306 is between geometrical planes parallel and coinciding with
the first and second surfaces of the circuit board 301. Hence, on
the above-defined fringe area 309, the light guides 305 and 306 do
not require room in directions perpendicular to the circuit board
301. In the exemplifying case illustrated in FIG. 3, each of the
light guides comprises an elongated part at least partially located
in a cut of the circuit board so that, on the fringe area 309, the
elongated part is between the geometrical planes parallel and
coinciding with the first and second surfaces of the circuit board.
In the exemplifying case illustrated in FIG. 3, each of the
elongated part crosses the edge 308 of the circuit board and
comprises an extension portion being outside the circuit board. The
extension portion of the elongated part of the light guide 305 is
denoted with a reference number 312. The electrical device
comprises a casing structure 313 having an aperture for the free
ends of the elongated parts. FIG. 3 shows a section view of the
casing structure 313. In the exemplifying case illustrated in FIG.
3, the extension portions of the elongated parts of the light
guides have curved shapes for enabling the free ends of the
elongated parts to be in the aperture of the casing structure.
Advantageously, at least the extension portions of the elongated
parts of the light guides are made of flexible material.
An electrical device according to an exemplifying embodiment of the
invention comprises a sealing member 314 surrounding the extension
portions of the elongated parts of the light guides 305 and 306.
The sealing member 314 is suitable for providing a sealed
lead-through for the extension portions. The sealing member can be
for example a piece of rubber or soft plastic cast around the
elongated parts of the light guides. It is to be noted that also a
light guide or light guides according to the prior art can be
provided with a sealing member similar to the sealing member
314.
FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate light guides that are suitable for
electrical devices according to exemplifying embodiments of the
invention. The light guide 405a shown in FIG. 4a comprises three
branches configured to receive lights from various light sources
404a, 404b and 404c. The branches are interconnected into a single
light conducting path so as to generate a superposition of the
lights received from the light sources. The light source 404a can
be configured to emit for example blue light, the light source 404b
can be configured to emit red light, and the light source 404c can
be configured to emit green light. In this case, the color of the
superposition of the lights can be controlled by controlling the
light sources 404a, 404b and 404c.
The light guide 405b shown in FIG. 4b comprises three braches
branching from a single light conducting path that is configured to
receive light from a light source 404d. Each of the branches is
configured to conduct a part of the light to the user of the
electrical device. The light guides of the kind shown in FIGS. 4a
and 4b can be used, for example, for implementing alphanumeric
display symbols.
The specific examples provided in the description given above
should not be construed as limiting the applicability and/or the
interpretation of the appended claims.
* * * * *